


Gym Buddies

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-30
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 02:08:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/947350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin starts a new job and meets new friends</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Merlin pulled away to whisper „Arthur, we’re going to get fired!“ But he didn’t remove his arms from around Arthur’s neck. 

“I doubt that,” Arthur replied, lips back capturing Merlin’s, hands on his bare arse pressing Merlin against the tiles and lifting him up. 

When Merlin felt his feet lift off the floor, he wrapped his legs around Arthur’s waist, not breaking their passionate kissing. He hissed when Arthur pressed into him. There hadn’t been any preparation, just frantic kissing and some fumbling which had gotten him hot enough to go for it right there, in the showers. The showers of the company’s gym. 

Arthur grunted as he felt Merlin slide down his hard-on and tried to pump into him as fast and hard as he could, which wasn’t easy as he had to push Merlin back against the wall and balance his weight. But logistics were far from his mind as his tongue slid against Merlin’s and he felt Merlin’s hands grip his hair. He’d love to reach for Merlin’s cock which was rubbing against his skin, but couldn’t let go of his arse. 

Damn if he got fired, this was definitely worth it, Merlin thought as he felt Arthur’s hardness drill into him. 

+++

 

Merlin had only gotten the job a few months ago, a newly acquired degree in design in his pocket. All he had wanted was his own little company, but with a student loan that had to be paid back he’d had no choice but look for work with the big players, who paid well. So he’d taken a job at Pendragon Industries, where the design department alone employed more people than lived in his little home village. But the pay was good and at least the ‘crazy design folks’ weren’t expected to wear business suits outside official presentations, which was a definite plus. So Merlin decided to go for it and give the job a try, at least for a while. 

On his first day he was teamed up with Leon, a tall guy with hair that never seemed to do what he expected it and some scruffy facial hair. They hit it off right away and ended up discussing ideas well after official business hours. Then again, Pendragon Industries never slept. There were departments that had the usual 9 to 5 rhythm, but production was open 24/7 and the guys in international sales were there at all hours of the day and night. Nobody expected fixed hours from the design guys, they were creative - they had to work at their best creative time, which was sometimes in the middle of the night.

One night Leon took Merlin along to the company’s gym; insisting that even creative people needed to clear their heads with exercise. Merlin had complained at first, but since he loved to run and hadn’t done it in a while, he finally agreed to go along. Even though everything at Pendragon Industries was a bit bigger and better than anywhere else, Merlin hadn’t expected this facility to be a fully equipped gym; including a little bar area where you could get refreshments. Leon showed him how to sign in and where the locker rooms were. 

When they were changed and entered the gym area, Merlin felt very self conscious. He’d never liked gyms, all those muscle-y guys intimidated him. As a teenager he had worked out like crazy to try and get rid of his skinny body, but that hadn’t worked out and so he had made peace with the fact that he’d always be on the gangly side. Which didn’t mean that muscles in the right places weren’t nice to look at. 

Leon pushed the door open and was greeted with loud cheers from the far side of the room. He made his way over, a wide smile on his face and Merlin couldn’t do anything but follow; if he didn’t want to stand there by himself, looking lost. 

“Merlin, meet the guys,” Leon introduced after lots of arm-punching and shoulder-slapping from four of the most gorgeous men Merlin had ever laid eyes on. “Gwaine and Percy from Sales, Lance from Security and this is Arthur. Merlin shook hands and smiled that awkward fake smile that he always smiled when he didn’t know what else to say but “Hello.” And since Leon had introduced them with the department they worked in, he mumbled “Merlin from Design.”

A blond guy with piercing blue eyes shook his hand, “Arthur from... Personnel ,” he smiled. “Nice to meet you, _MerlinfromDesign._ ”

The tallest of them, a mountain of a man who was all muscle and pleasant smiles, chuckled. Merlin felt out of place with these guys in perfect work-out clothes, with dream worthy bodies and him, in an old pair of runners, worn-out sweatpants and a t-shirt which had seen better days. 

Only then did Merlin notice that this Arthur-guy was still holding his hand in a firm grip. He cleared his throat. “I’ll...I guess I’ll just find me a treadmill for starters.” He pulled his hand back, gave Leon a wry grin and headed to the part of the gym where he could see treadmills. 

Quickly, Merlin put in the earphones of his old MP3-player and blocked out the sounds of the gym with his latest favourite mix while he examined the treadmill. So far, he’d only done his running outside, on the street or in a park but surely you didn’t have to know anything about quantum physics to understand how this machine worked, right? 

As he was pressing buttons aimlessly, the bloke whom Leon had introduced as Gwaine from Sales...or was he from Security?...stood next to the treadmill. “They’re all a bit different, but I found these to be really easy once someone showed me how to handle them.” He flicked his longish hair back and flashed Merlin a wide smile, who couldn’t help but smile back. A few sentences later, Gwaine had explained the basics and left Merlin to it. Who said that gorgeous guys were all idiots? Merlin began to relax and concentrated on running.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next couple of weeks, working out became a habit. In the beginning Merlin only went when Leon was going too but soon he was confident enough to go on his own. Gwen from the bar waved at him every time he showed up and Elyan, who was in charge of the machines, told him about new equipment excitedly. Every once in a while one of ‘Leon’s gang’ as Merlin called them in his mind, was there too and they acknowledged each other with nods or a friendly hello. 

One afternoon, Merlin ran into the tall bloke, Percy if he recalled correctly as he left the locker rooms, his hair still moist and standing up in all kinds of directions. “Err...hi! Sorry, I...it was all my fault,” he stammered out, even though Percy hadn’t moved as much as an inch while he himself had kind of bounced off the other man’s chest. 

Percy smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Merlin felt his cheeks heating up. It meant that this hunk remembered him, but did it also mean he’d been looking out for him? “I...we are working on this project, you know, so I’m here at weird times. That probably doesn’t match yours.” Oh dear, why had he said that? Percy probably thought he was a weirdo. “But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about work here.”

“Which project are you working on?” The smile was still on Percy’s face. “If you have a minute...,” he looked over at the bar, “we could get a protein shake and you can tell me about it?”

Merlin noticed a come-on when he heard one, but this couldn’t be. Not here, at work. And, definitely not from a guy like that Percy. He was in Sales, so he was more likely just interested in the project. Merlin could spare the time; nobody forced him to be back at his desk at any particular time. If he didn’t finish his work now, he could do it later, as long as it was finished by the next morning. 

An hour later, he still found himself in the company of Percy and after talking about the project, or at least the parts of the project he was allowed to talk about, the topics had drifted here and there. Merlin felt very comfortable in the presence of the other man. He was quite different from the stereotype that first came to mind when you looked at him. Which made him even more appealing and Merlin knew that he’d, at least, get a good wanking session out of this. 

But, he had to get back to his desk. He looked at his watch. “I’m really sorry, I have to get back to work.” He threw Percy an apologetic look.

Who mirrored the look. “Me too, too bad.” 

They got up and Merlin took his backpack. “I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can do this again some time?” Percy made a gesture towards the empty glasses. 

Merlin all but beamed. “I’d like that! I mean...yeah, sure.” He gave Percy a little wave and made his way back to his office. 

 

For a while, Merlin thought about sending Percy an email to thank him for the good time, but then decided against it. It would’ve looked too desperate, wouldn’t it?

He was in a good mood next time he entered the gym. The new project he and Leon were working on was coming along nicely and the prospect of seeing Percy again quickened his step. He’d even bought new clothes, even though he couldn’t bring himself to get those tight running shorts. At least his sweatpants were now his size and the new t-shirt didn’t look as if it had been handed down from an older and much better built brother.

He didn’t know what he’d been expecting but felt a little disappointed when he found that Percy wasn’t there. Which was silly, the sales people had odd schedules and it wasn’t as if they made an appointment (or even a date!) or anything.

Instead he was greeted by a wide smile and a little wave from the blond who had held his hand just a moment too long when they first met. What was his name again? Oh, right, Arthur. They never had exchanged more than a ‘hello’, so Merlin just waved back and started his work-out. He made a good distance in a decent time and failed to notice the piercing blue eyes that followed his every move.

For the next few days Merlin scheduled his work-out around the time of day he’d met Percy at the gym. But the other man never showed up, no matter how long Merlin hung out in the bar area, clinging to a glass of orange juice, talking to Gwen. Or, just watching her flirt with Lance when he was there. 

More than once he shoved his glass aside with a sigh, got up and went back to his office wondering if he’d imagined things or if he’d been too obviously interested, thereby scaring the other guy off. He even looked up all the information on Percy he could find on the company’s website, scolding himself for acting like a schoolgirl. 

One morning, Merlin had yet again changed the time for his daily visit to the gym, he was greeted by Arthur’s smile and wave. He decided to just ask; what did he have to lose?

“Hi.”

“Hey.” The way the blond looked at him was a bit unsettling, but they’d never really spoken before, so maybe he was just wondering what Merlin wanted. 

“All alone here again?” Damn, Merlin, that was the oldest and dumbest come-on ever! “I mean...where’s the rest of the gang?” He bit his lower lip. He hadn’t meant to reveal that he called the guys ‘Leon’s gang’. 

Arthur chuckled at that. “You probably know better than me what Leon’s up to.” He winked at Merlin. “Gwaine and Percy are on a business trip to Eastern Europe and Asia, and Lance is supposed to be in a meeting,” he willingly answered the question.

“As are you!” A stern female voice came from behind. 

Merlin turned and found himself in the presence of Morgana Pendragon. He’d only seen her once before, while he had been bringing back some papers the personnel department had asked him to sign. She was in the middle of yelling at a secretary, tossed some papers at her chest, calling her completely useless and then left the poor girl close to tears, storming off. Merlin had helped Sophia – as he later found out – pick up the papers and gave her an encouraging nod before he wandered off on his own errand. But he, too, was thoroughly intimidated by Ms. Pendragon. 

From the way she glared at Arthur, she was probably his boss. Oh boy, Merlin didn’t want to be in Arthur’s shoes if that was the case, so he just threw him a sympathetic look and tried to blend in with the wall. No way did he want to get in the middle of that.

“Instead of wasting all your time here in this dingy gym, you should learn to take some responsibility Arthur and finally do your job right! You have five minutes!” She rushed off.

Arthur seemed to be totally unfazed, but still reached for his towel and turned to Merlin, who was still standing there hardly daring to breathe. “Guess, I should go to that boring meeting after all?” He grinned. “See you.”

Merlin nodded and stood still for a moment after Arthur had left. That had been an odd scene. If Ms. Pendragon had snarled at him like that, he’d have run for cover. Arthur had seemed to be totally relaxed about it. Then again, it was none of his business and he turned to find himself a treadmill.


	3. Chapter 3

Another week went by and when Friday finally came, Merlin’s only plan was to spend as much time as possible on his couch or in bed and do nothing else that weekend. He took his messenger bag, wished Elena, the only other designer still there, a nice weekend and made his way to the elevators. He fumbled with the earphones of his MP3-player – how come when he always tried to store them as neatly as possible they still managed to fabricate the most fancy knots in the cable? – as the doors opened. Only when he stepped inside, did he notice that Gwaine was there.

“Merlin, hey there!”

Before Merlin could react, Gwaine had slapped his shoulder and patted it. “Just the guy that was still missing.”

Missing? He was missing? Missing from what? For what? Merlin blinked at the other man a bit owlishly.

“You don’t have plans for tonight, do you?”

Merlin just gaped at Gwaine. His plans existed of a movie and some extensive couch-time, but he didn’t want to admit that. “Why?” he asked warily. 

“Listen, it’s my birthday. We’re going to celebrate a bit. And I just decided that you’ll come along.” When he saw the look on Merlin’s face, he added “I’m the birthday boy, you can’t say no!”

“Happy birthday, then.” Merlin murmured. He didn’t really feel like going out with people he hardly knew. “I...I don’t think I’m dressed for the occasion.” He looked down at his old boots and worn-out jeans. 

Gwaine shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. You’re looking great.” Then he leaned in a bit and whispered. “Leon, Percy and Arthur will be there, too.” 

Despite himself, Merlin smiled. He hadn’t seen Percy in what felt like weeks. Maybe this was the right time to find out if he’d just imagined things or if Percy really was interested. 

“So, what do you say?”

“Well...okay,” he smiled at Gwaine, “a glass to your health can’t hurt, can it?”

Two hours later, Merlin found himself having a great time. Gwaine had arranged for a large round table in the corner of the place, they could see the dance floor but weren’t bothered too much by loud music. They were on their third or maybe fourth drink when Merlin smiled up at Percy, who conveniently was next to him on the bench. He felt the other man’s knee pressing against his or had Percy accidentally touched his leg? 

Gwaine and Percy told stories about their business trip, Lance had some funny episodes from his field of work, Gwen knew a lot of gossip doing the rounds in the company and Leon – who had joined them with his wife Cassandra - had a few interesting and fun things to tell, too. Arthur was the only one who hadn’t said much all.

After his third beer, Merlin excused himself and as he wandered back from the loo’s crossing the dance floor, he couldn’t resist. He hadn’t danced in ages, so he closed his eyes and let himself get carried away by the rhythm. Only to feel the presence of another person very close moments later. He blinked and smiled widely when he noticed Percy dancing with him. He leaned back a bit and Percy rubbed against him. For a lad that big, Percy moved extremely well and Merlin thought that this was very promising. If he moved as well between the sheets, this could be fun. 

He was so wrapped up in dancing and watching Percy, feeling him close that he missed Gwaine and Gwen high-fiving each other across the table and was oblivious to the dark looks Arthur threw them. 

A few hours later, they all were ready to leave and Merlin felt all giddy and excited as he zipped up his hoodie, pulling on his jacket as they left the club. 

Since Gwaine was too far gone, Gwen and Lance organised the taxis.

“I...,” Merlin took a couple of deep breaths. The cold hit him and out here, he felt the alcohol much more than inside. He was far from being drunk, just thoroughly tipsy. “I think I’ll walk, my place is not far from here and I need some fresh air.” He looked everywhere but at Percy. 

“I’ll walk you.” Did Percy just wink at Gwen? “See you Monday morning, folks.” He turned to Merlin. “Which way?”

They waved at the others and silently made their way out of earshot, Merlin didn’t find the silence unsettling at all. As he contemplated the rest of the night. Should he just ask Percy in? ‘For a coffee’ or whatever the recent term for that was? He’d loved to, but wasn’t that a bit too fast? 

“Did you have a good time tonight?” Merlin was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost jumped when Percy asked. 

“The best.” He smiled and walked on, hands buried in the pockets of his coat. “Who’d have thought that a boring work day would end like this?” 

Wasn’t that the point in conversation where Percy would say ‘It doesn’t have to end yet’? But the tall fella just nodded, smiling at him. 

All too soon they reached the house where Merlin had rented a small flat on the third floor. Fumbling in his messenger bag for his keys, he climbed the first step and turned to face Percy, who all of a sudden was at eye-level with him. He cleared his throat nervously. Yeah, he’d ask Percy in; the bloke was just too hot to let this chance pass.

 

But before he could utter a sound, Percy leaned in and kissed him. Damn, that felt good! Merlin wrapped his arms around Percy’s neck and closed his eyes, just wanting to feel the other man. Percy’s arms were around him and Merlin thought he could do this forever. He parted his lips as he felt Percy’s tongue and sighed when Percy explored his mouth.

Then he heard an annoying buzzing sound and frowned. Whatever it was, it should go away and leave them alone! They had some serious necking to do! 

Merlin made a little disappointed sound when Percy drew back.

“Sorry, I have to answer this.” He pulled his mobile out of the inside pocket of his coat and checked the text. Frowning, he let go of Merlin and quickly typed up a message before turning back to Merlin. “Where were we?” He grinned. 

Just as Merlin felt Percy’s tongue against his, there was another message.

Percy groaned as he pulled back yet again to check. 

Merlin made a mental note to personally slap whoever was disturbing them. How was he supposed to get anywhere with Percy if someone kept sending texts all night?

Shaking his head, Percy kissed the tip of Merlin’s nose. “I’m really sorry, I have to go. Some trouble with one of our clients, apparently it can’t wait.” 

“Okay,” was all Merlin could come up with. Clients? At this time of night? While he had a raging hard-on and the urgent need to strip Percy naked?

Another long kiss later, Percy let go of him. “Good night, Merlin.” He turned to go, leaving Merlin standing there, staring after him, completely frustrated. 

After a few steps, Percy turned back. “Listen...if you have no other plans, maybe...I mean...we could go see that new exhibition at the Science Museum tomorrow? Or something?”

Merlin felt himself grinning like a loon. “I’d like that.”

“Great. I’ll give you a call so we can work out the details in the morning?” When Merlin nodded, Percy raised his hand in greeting and wandered off. 

 

Merlin woke up around nine and stretched. Okay, all limbs still in place and that slight hang-over-ish feeling was probably just because he hadn’t slept long enough. It was nothing that a few glasses of water and two aspirins couldn’t cure. But before he went to the kitchen, he checked his mobile. No messages. Oh well, it was still early, Percy would probably still be asleep?

After taking a long hot shower, Merlin spent the morning trying to decide what to wear in the afternoon and when there still was no message or call by noon, he busied himself doing the dishes and making the place a bit more presentable. He got dressed and took extra care of his hair, which was a bit too long these days and tended to stick out in every possible direction. To shave or not to shave? Merlin decided against it. And then for it. And then against it before he could do any damage. And then shaved anyway. 

It was 3 pm already and still no call. Merlin pondered calling himself, but Percy had said he’d call, right? Besides he didn’t have his number, even though he could probably just ask Leon. If Percy didn’t call any time soon, the museum would be closed before they got there! 

Two hours later, Merlin was pouting. He had to face the fact that Percy wasn’t so interested after all and that ‘I’ll call you to work out the details’ only meant ‘you’re not thrilling enough and I have to get out of here’. Or maybe even ‘who do you think you are thinking you could get a good catch like me? Just look at you!’ He changed back into his old too-big sweatpants and a t-shirt that still bore the marks of his last cooking adventure and curled up on the couch. This was why he’d never wanted to date again after that fiasco with Owen a few years ago. It only got you all confused and it hurt when you got dumped. Guys were nothing but douchebags. The whole of them!


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey, how was your weekend?” Leon grinned widely when Merlin entered the office on Monday morning. 

Merlin threw him a look. “Have had better ones.”

“Why? What went wrong? We all thought you had a good time and then you and Percy...”

“I’d appreciate if you didn’t even mention that name again.” Merlin threw his bag down and hung up his coat.

“That bad? What happened, man?” Leon handed a mug of steaming coffee over. 

Merlin wasn’t in the mood to discuss this with Leon, but he was probably the best friend he had here and it was good when someone listened. “We said good-night and he wanted to call, so we could get together on Saturday. But that didn’t happen.”

Leon frowned. “He never called?”

Shaking his head, Merlin blew on the steaming coffee and took a sip. 

“So he did it. Fucking idiot,” Leon murmured.

“No, he didn’t. But yeah, idiot.” Merlin turned to switch on his computer, not noticing that Leon was about to clarify his last statement but then didn’t. 

 

All day long, Merlin pondered if it was the right thing to do to go for his work-out. What if he ran into the idiot? Then again, he was a big boy. He could handle rejection and go on with his life. He needed to show Percy that nothing was off, nothing was different, nothing had happened at all that was worth changing anything over. So he went and yet was relieved when it was only Arthur who nodded at him from where he was lifting weights. He waved and started his own routine. 

He worked himself a bit harder than usual, but it felt good to run until the muscles in your legs ached more than your hurt feelings. Merlin fumbled with his MP3 player, trying to skip a few really sappy old love songs since he couldn’t bear to listen to those now, when Arthur showed up, leaning one hand against the treadmill.

“Hey!”

Freeing one of his ears from the ear phones and turning the volume of the music down, Merlin returned the ‘hey’, not willing to halt his work-out. If this guy came over to make fun of him for what happened Friday night, he could just fuck off as well.

“Had a good time last Friday?”

Yeah, great, here it came. 

“Uh huh.” Merlin murmured. “You too?” 

Arthur shook his head once. “Not really. But that’s all settled now.” He smiled at Merlin. 

“Good for you.” What the heck did he want? Arthur never talked to him. And why did he look at him like that with those incredibly blue eyes? 

For a moment, Arthur said nothing. Then he cleared his throat. “You know, when you’re done here...we could...I don’t know....hang out? Go for a drink?”

Merlin stopped and stared at Arthur, for a split moment forgetting that the treadmill was still moving, which lead to him almost falling off it. He jerked forward and quickly pulled the emergency stop. “Are you out of your mind? If this is another one of those oh-so-hilarious jokes that you guys are playing at my expense, go find yourself another fool.” With that, he grabbed his towel with a huff and left the blond standing there. Who did this bloke think he was? Percy had probably already told everyone that he’d stood him up and they all had a good laugh. He was not going to make the same mistake twice by accepting another invitation for a drink or a birthday party or whatever!

The anger he’d felt made way to disappointment again when he found a message from Percy   
in his inbox. 

_Merlin, they sent me to China on emergency business first thing Saturday morning. Sorry that I couldn’t make it. P_

Yeah, right, as if you only found out that you had to fly to the other end of the world two hours before your plane departed. 

Merlin typed up various answers, ranging from ‘yeah, right, have fun at the science museum there’, to ‘fuck off, you idiot’, to ‘I got it, no need to make up fake business trips’, but only sent a ‘Bon voyage’.


	5. Chapter 5

A few weeks later, Merlin was in a good mood. Will would be in town for two nights. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a year, so Merlin was looking forward to showing him all the sights and then having a good time catching up, recalling the good old times, starting with that time in kindergarten where they were determined to kill each other by throwing blocks. 

He was supposed to meet Will at his hotel at seven, so he could throw in a quick work-out and go from there. When he was done and left the lockers, all freshly showered and for once decently dressed, Arthur stepped in his way and Merlin felt guilty as he remembered what he’d snarled at him the last time they talked. 

“Listen, Arthur. I should apologise for what I said the other day. It wasn’t your fault and I wasn’t in the mood for anything. I’m sorry.” He added a little smile for good measure. 

Arthur gave him a smug grin. “There’s a way you can make it up to me.”

Oh no, what did he want now? Merlin was in a hurry, if he didn’t catch that bus, he’d be late meeting Will. 

“Yeah, you could come along for a drink. Had a rough day and feel the need to unwind.” Arthur rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. 

Merlin blinked. “I could...but I already have plans for tonight.” He went for what he hoped was an apologetic smile. 

Arthur didn’t let go. “Tomorrow night, then?”

Shrugging, Merlin said “Got plans for tomorrow too, sorry.”

Arthur’s expression was unreadable to Merlin. 

“And if I don’t run, I’ll be late. I’m sure you’ll find someone to have a beer with.” Merlin raised his hand and then all but dashed out. He really needed to catch that bus. 

Will extended his visit for another two days, so Merlin rushed home after work and only got back to working out about a week later.

He left the locker rooms and went over to the bar to chat with Gwen when he noticed Percy standing at the door to the gym, Arthur in front of him, glaring at the larger man, his finger pointing at him threateningly. He said a few more things and it looked insistent, it seemed he cut off Percy as he was trying to reply. 

Since they were separated by the glass door, Merlin couldn’t make out what was being said. “Wonder what that’s about,” he murmured, more to himself than anything.

“I’m not really sure I want to know. The usual?” Gwen asked, already reaching for a glass.

Shaking his head, Merlin turned back to her. “Later Gwen, thanks. I just came in.” He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and went to the gym area. It had to happen. One time or another he had to face Percy, so the time could as well be now. 

He went straight for his favourite machine, trying to ignore everything and everyone, when Percy blocked his way.

“Hey.” At least he had the decency to look aggrieved. 

Merlin didn’t say anything. 

“Listen, I...I’m sorry for what happened. It shouldn’t have. I mean...I don’t think this’ll work.”

“And this took you 6000 miles and a couple of weeks to figure out?” Merlin hadn’t meant to say anything at all, but he was still pissed and why shouldn’t he let Percy know he had messed up. 

Percy sighed and threw Arthur, who was watching them from the other side of the room, a dark look. “All I can say is that I’m sorry. It’s my fault, you’re a great guy and...”

“Yeah, it’s not me, it’s you. Spare me the talk. It’s not like it was anything special anyway. Just a matter of manners.” Merlin left Percy standing there and left, not feeling like running any more, more like running away. He needed a beer, or something stronger, something much stronger. 

An hour later, he was sat at the bar in the little corner pub down the street, downing his fourth or fifth whiskey. Or had there been more? He’d lost count. He signalled the bar tender to pour him another one.

“Job trouble? Or women?” The sturdy little bloke asked.

Merlin threw him a look. “Yeah.”

The bar tender nodded as if that said it all, poured him his drink and left to tend to other guests. 

Merlin turned the glass over and over in his hands, staring at the golden liquid as if it held all the answers. Why were all the guys he was ever interested in such assholes? Why did he always fall for the wrong ones? Maybe because there weren’t any right ones? At all. Anywhere. Non-existent. 

Just as he lifted the glass to down the whiskey in one large gulp, he felt a hand on his arm, holding him back. “Hey!” He turned to glare at the person who had come between him and his drink, only to find Arthur standing next to him. 

“I think you’ve had enough.”

“Not nearly.” Merlin shot back. 

Arthur wrestled the glass out of Merlin’s hand, threw some pound notes on the bar and took Merlin by the elbow. “What you need is some fresh air.” He pulled him out of his chair and maneuvered him out of the pub. 

“What I need is none of your business.” When the cold air hit him, Merlin noticed that he indeed had a few too many drinks in too short a time. He felt his head swimming and grabbed at Arthur to steady himself. “Whoa.” He felt a strong arm around his waist and smiled goofily. 

He didn’t mind that Arthur steered him down the road towards his place. In fact, it felt good. Big Arthur, strong and warm at his side, smelling good and those blue eyes were fascinating, so very fascinating. And so close...


	6. Chapter 6

With a groan, Merlin woke up when his mobile rang. He had a massive headache and as he reached for the noisy device everything else hurt, too. “Yeah?” he mumbled.

“Merlin! Where are you? It’s ten already, are you okay?” Leon’s voice was somewhere between annoyed and worried.

“Ten?” Merlin echoed, the words not really getting through to him.

“Where are you?”

Blinking, he checked his surroundings. “At home, I guess.”

“Are you sick?”

“Kind of.” The pounding in his head seemed to be a good sign for that.

“Kind of? If you’re sick, tell me. If you just partied too hard, I’ll expect to see your skinny butt here in thirty.”

Oh Gods, Leon might be his friend, but he was also his supervisor. “I’ll be there.” Merlin hung up and stared at the ceiling. He’d screwed up and if he didn’t hurry, he’d be in even more trouble. What the fuck had happened last night? 

Closing his eyes again, he tried to retrace his every step. Oh, Percy at the gym, which had led to a couple of drinks at the pub. And then...Arthur! Merlin shot up. Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh Gods, no! 

Despite the ill taste in his mouth and the headache that tried to split his skull open, he looked around. He was at home, had been in his bed until just a moment ago. Did his bed look as if he’d done anything else but sleep there last night? He reached for his pillow and carefully sniffed it. No, that just smelled like him. And as if he should wash it again some time soon. He carefully looked around and found his clothes neatly folded on the chair in the corner. There was even a glass of water and his aspirin bottle on the nightstand. But it didn’t look as if he’d had the sex of his life and couldn’t remember it. 

But he didn’t have much time to do more exploring, he was late already. So he took a quick shower, grabbed some fresh clothes, pocketed the aspirin and made his way to work. 

 

Throughout the day, Merlin decided that indeed nothing had happened. Arthur had haphazardly found him and brought him home. Okay, it was a bit awkward that he couldn’t remember if he undressed himself or if he’d had help, but it was nice of Arthur not to take advantage of him while he was thoroughly pissed and had even bothered to leave the aspirin for him. Then again, he was probably not even interested in guys and was only being friendly because one of his friends had messed up.

When he met Arthur at the gym a couple of days later – and Merlin only registered then that every time he showed up, Arthur was already there – he went over. 

“This is a bit awkward, but...thanks. You know...” 

Arthur nodded. “No bother. Was the least I could do.” 

“Thanks again. I really appreciate it.” Not knowing what else to say, this was awkward enough, Merlin turned away.

“Merlin?” 

He turned back. “Yeah?”

“You could return the favour by finally going for that drink. With me.”

Merlin blinked. “I...I’m not sure if me and a drink should be in the same vicinity for a while.” But he couldn’t turn Arthur down again. He might even have gone with him that first time, when he didn’t have the time because of Will’s visit. Just to show Percy that he was indeed worth the company of one member of the gang. That he didn’t need him. And Arthur had been nice to him, bringing him home. “If it’s okay that I stick to a soda...?”

“If you can hold those better than your liquor...” Arthur grinned. “See you at 7 at the Rising Sun.” With that, he left.

 

After his initial nervousness, Merlin had a good time. Arthur had seen him at his worst, so what did he have to lose? So he didn’t even notice that he did most of the talking while Arthur asked all the questions. When they felt hungry, they changed locations and went for some Mexican take-out that they ate sitting on the backrest of a bench in the park. 

When Merlin finally went home, he was humming to himself. This had been a really nice evening. Arthur was nice to talk to and he felt he really needed some new friends and Arthur could be one of them.


	7. Chapter 7

The next couple of weeks were busy with the new project. They had a deadline to keep that ended in the presentation of their results to the board members. Merlin was happy that he didn’t have to attend the meeting, knowing that the _Mighty Dragon_ , as everyone called Uther Pendragon, would be there and he was known for not treating anyone demurely who tried to pass him ideas that he didn’t approve of.

Even though he cut back on his work-out time, Arthur seemed to find ways to talk to him, finding him at the cafeteria, talking him into staying for another coffee, bringing urgent papers to Elena, thereby checking in on Leon and Merlin and distracting them for a couple of minutes before he left again. One day, he showed up, holding up Merlin’s gym bag that he’d forgotten to take back with him on the rare occasions he went there these days, teasing him mercilessly about it. 

The night before the big presentation, Merlin gave some finishing touches to the power point slides and went over them with Leon once again and then there was nothing left to do.

“Go home, Leon, and get some sleep. It’s the big day tomorrow, you want to look rested when you have to face the _Mighty Dragon_.” Merlin nudged him.

Leon stretched. “Might be the best thing to do. You really should go into that meeting with me, you did most of the work anyway.”

“Nah, not really my thing. You go in there, you’ll rock it and then we can go out to celebrate.” Merlin smiled. “Now go, if you want to catch Cassandra awake.”

Leon put on his jacket. 

“When’s the big day anyway?” Merlin had heard all about Cassandra’s pregnancy before but he knew that Leon was really excited and liked to talk about it all the time. 

“Next Sunday, they said. I still can’t believe that it’s happening. Me, a dad!” Leon beamed.

Merlin smiled back. “You’re going to be a great dad. Tell Cassandra I said hi.” 

Leon nodded and left, so Merlin checked a few settings on the presentation again before he logged off of his computer. 

He stretched and looked at his mobile. It was 11 pm already, but he hadn’t gotten to run in ages and the gym was open all night. So he grabbed his stuff and headed over.

It didn’t surprise him that Arthur was there, despite the time of day. It would have surprised him if he hadn't been there and went over to say hi.

Arthur smiled widely at him. “It’s alive!”

Merlin laughed. “Indeed it is.”

“Is your project ready for the big presentation?” Of course they’d talked about it when Arthur had complained that Merlin didn’t work out enough, so he knew about the deadline.

Nodding, Merlin sat down on a bench across Arthur. “Yeah, nothing left to do. The slides work perfectly and Leon knows his text.” He grinned and then just looked at Arthur, who was working with the barbells, watching how his biceps moved underneath the soft skin. All of a sudden he remembered how good Arthur had smelled right next to him, that time he walked him home. He got up abruptly and cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t...sit here all evening. Feels like I didn’t do anything but sit in the past few weeks, I need to start.”

He fled over to his beloved treadmills and didn’t notice the smirk on Arthur’s face as he looked after him.

 

Thirty minutes later, Merlin was done and made his way over to the lockers. Arthur seemed to have left already. Too bad, he wouldn’t minded having another chat with him. Or a drink. Or... something. He opened his locker as he toed off his runners and pulled the sweaty T-shirt over his head. Nobody else was there, so there was no need to be shy and Merlin stripped naked before he grabbed his towel and shower gel. 

He sighed when the hot spray of the shower hit him and closed his eyes. Images of Arthur flashed through his mind. Why hadn’t he noticed him that way before? Merlin thought Arthur was a friend. They hung out, they had coffee, they talked. But tonight, he’d noticed the toned body consciously for the first time. Those broad pecs, the wide shoulders, the well-defined arms. Merlin tried to shake the thoughts before his body reacted. He was just tired, that was all. After a good night’s sleep, he’d have forgotten about this and Arthur would still be his friend. 

He was so deep in thought that he was oblivious to the sounds around him and froze when he noticed someone standing in front of his shower stall. Merlin gaped when he realised it was Arthur. Wearing nothing but a white towel. His eyes wandering over Merlin’s body, pausing at that certain point before they wandered up to meet Merlin’s eyes. 

Merlin felt his heartbeat speeding up and his breath hitching in his throat. This wasn’t happening, was it? 

That he didn’t say anything seemed to be the sign for Arthur to get rid of the towel and step under the spray with him, move in close and just look into his eyes for endless seconds.

Next thing Merlin knew he had his arms around Arthur’s neck and felt his lips against his own, his whole body pressing against the sheer amount of muscle that was Arthur. He moaned lowly into the frantic kiss as Arthur parted his lips and explored his mouth with his tongue. Merlin rubbed against him, fully hard already and felt a matching hardness against his hip. As Arthur sucked on his tongue and slid his hands down his sides, Merlin felt almost dizzy. Gods, that felt good. But...

“Arthur...we’re going to get fired.”

Arthur smirked against his lips. “I doubt that.”

Merlin felt himself being lifted and wrapped his legs around Arthur’s hips, hissing when his back was pressed against the cool tiles. But he didn’t care, he wanted it so bad. 

When Arthur started to pump into him, he couldn’t do much more than cling to him and he came almost immediately. It had been too long and Arthur seemed to know instinctively how to push his buttons. He worked his muscles around Arthur’s length and kissed him breathlessly until Arthur grunted and spilled into him. 

As he went soft and pulled out, he set Merlin down again, panting, touching foreheads with Merlin. “Damn, you’re hot.” 

Merlin blushed slightly and tried to grin. “Likewise,” he got out between pants. 

“Let’s go.” Arthur leaned in for another kiss and then pulled Merlin out of the shower.

They dried off quickly and scrambled into their clothes, grabbed their stuff and hurried to the elevators. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Arthur pulled him in for another one of those fantastic, mind-blowing kisses that left Merlin boneless. 

When they heard the ‘ping’ and the computer voice announcing they had reached the ground floor, they let go of each other, trying to straighten their coats, before making their way out of the building, trying to look as if they weren’t leaving together, both nodding at Lance, who was looking up from one of the monitors and gave them a wave.

They were kissing and grabbing at each other as they made it to Merlin’s place without making too much of a spectacle of themselves in the tube. And if they did, they didn’t care. 

As soon as they were inside, Merlin turned and pressed Arthur against the door, picking up the kiss they had to pause for him to get the keys into the lock. Later, Merlin couldn’t recall how they had gotten from there to his bedroom and especially how they’d gotten out of their clothes. All that mattered was the feel of Arthur’s skin against his again and to never stop kissing. 

“Merlin,” an urgent whisper. 

“Yeah?” Breathless against heated skin.

“Fuck me.”

Merlin had never followed an order so willingly. He fumbled in his nightstand for a condom and some lube, sheathed himself and prepared Arthur, who had rolled onto his stomach. 

“Merlin, stop playing. Just...fuck me.”

So he pulled Arthur onto his knees, positioned himself, grabbed himself with one hand, whispered “relax and breathe”, his other hand on Arthur’s hip and slowly pushed in. Only to gasp at the heat and tightness that engulfed him. “Oh fuck!”

Arthur pushed back against him. “Yeah, fuck...,” he grunted. 

First Merlin grabbed Arthur’s hips to have better control, but Arthur moved under him and soon he was completely in. But that wasn’t enough, so he leaned over Arthur and grabbed the headboard, feeling Arthur’s warmth against his chest. 

Arthur reached up and pulled one of his hand down, entwining their fingers, holding on to him and Merlin sprinkled Arthur’s shoulders with little kisses. 

The urgency of that first fuck in the shower was gone and Merlin took his time, moving slowly, pulling out as far as he could in this position until Arthur made a little sound of disapproval, before pushing back in all the way. After a while, Merlin felt his orgasm building and tried to hold back, but the need was stronger. He got up on his knees again, grabbing Arthur’s hair and fucked him hard. 

“Merl...Merlin...yeah...fuck...finish me off,” Arthur moaned and Merlin reached around and wrapped his fingers around Arthur’s length, jerking him off in the rhythm he set by fucking. When he felt Arthur coming, he let go, too, and collapsed on Arthur’s back. 

They made love again that night, slow, almost lazily, exchanging sweet kisses, never breaking eye-contact. Moments before he spilled into Arthur again, Merlin thought he saw something in his eyes that was more than just raw lust. Could it be?

When Arthur had fallen asleep, his head on Merlin’s chest, Merlin lay there, staring at the ceiling, his fingers playing gently with the ends of Arthur’s hair, trying to straighten out what had happened in his head. Had it only just been hours ago that he looked at Arthur like that for the first time? Had it just been sex? The look in Arthur’s eyes haunted him. Nobody who didn’t have feelings looked like that. Did...did Arthur like him? And why did it feel so good, so natural to lie here like this? What exactly did he feel for Arthur?

Before he could come to any conclusions, sleep took over.


	8. Chapter 8

When the alarm on his mobile went off, Merlin found himself alone. Oh well, there went all his thinking from last night. He got up and stretched, smiling to himself. He ached in all the right places. 

Picking up his clothes, that were strewn from the door to his bed, he made his way to the bathroom and took a shower, grinning. There was one flaw to his shower. It lacked an Arthur. 

He made a mental note to look Arthur up on the company’s website once he’d given Leon a pep talk before the presentation. He couldn’t do more anyway once Leon had made his way into the dragon’s lair. And maybe the website would spit out a mobile number that he could send a text to, something like ‘thanks for last night’ or so, which would leave it up to Arthur to decide if he wanted an encore. 

On his way to their office, Merlin stopped to get some coffee and hummed to himself, trying to keep the grin off his face as he got in the elevator. 

When he entered their office, Leon was already in his suit, hair slicked back, facial scruff gone. He was on the phone and then hung up.

“Gotta go.”

“Leon? You have plenty of time to get to the meeting.” Merlin set down his coffee and put his bag down. 

“No time. Cassy went into labour, I gotta go.” He had already ripped his coat from the hanger and put it on.

“But...the presentation!” Of course Merlin knew that this was considered a family emergency, but they had worked so hard on this!

“You do it!” Leon opened the upper drawer of his desk.

“Me?” Merlin squeaked. He wasn’t ready to do anything like that. Especially not without proper preparation. He hated speaking in public. And this was the board of directors they were talking about!

“Yes, you.” Elena rounded the corner, hung up a suit bag and put his freshly shined shoes on his desk. “Get dressed.”

For emergencies, Merlin had stored the only suit he owned at the company, completed by the very shoes Elena had set in front of him. But he’d never thought this would happen. Only that it had, just now. “Can’t we...postpone this?”

Leon pushed an electrical razor in his hand. “No, we can’t. Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. But shave before you go, the _Mighty Dragon_ isn’t fond of beards.” He patted Merlin’s cheek and rushed out, leaving Merlin to stare at the now empty spot. 

“Hurry.” Elena had already opened the suit bag and took out the dark blue suit, the white shirt and the tie that was almost a bit too bright of a blue, but she had insisted it would bring out the colour of his eyes when they’d shopped for it that one lunch break. 

Merlin tried to do everything at once. Shave properly, untie his laces, get out of his jeans. Which only lead to him tangling himself up in the denim and almost shaving the jumper he had tried to pull over his head. 

Elena pushed him back into his chair, pulled the jumper over his head and set a little make-up mirror in front of him. “Shave, but take care that all essential body parts are still intact later.” She unbuttoned the shirt on the hanger and when Merlin was done shaving, she inspected his face and then held the shirt up for him. There was some jumping around on one leg before Merlin got rid of his jeans and then some more jumping to get into the suit pants, but then Elena gave him a long look, straightened his tie and brushed some imaginary lint off his collar. “Sexy.” She grinned. “Off you go.”

The only thing Merlin felt was nervous. Would he be able to pull this off? Then again, he was involved in this project from the beginning, he knew it as well as Leon did and he was the one who made the slides. He’d listened to Leon rehearsing this and knew all the details. So he rushed to the conference room and was happy that the only other person already there was the _Mighty Dragon’s_...Mr. Pendragon! Mr. Pendragon!!’s secretary. He told her what had happened and waited nervously for the board members to arrive. 

The secretary explained to them that Mr. Knight had been called away on an urgent family matter and that Mr. Emrys would take over, having been involved in the project as well. 

Merlin had never encountered any of the board members aside from Morgana Pendragon before, but her father, the _Mighty Dr_...Mr. Pendragon, was just as impressive and intimidating, even though he made polite small-talk. The chair to Uther Pendragon’s right was still empty, so they were obviously waiting for someone else. 

Uther Pendragon checked his watch and smiled an annoyed smile. “I think we should get started.” He made a gesture towards Merlin. “If you would, young man?”

Merlin took a deep breath and started. The first few sentences came out a bit too low and fast, but then he looked at his slides and concentrated on the topic. He knew this, he could talk about it endlessly. So he explained how they’d come up with this specific design and the ways they had tested it. Before he could get to the results of their testing, the door opened and someone came in. Obviously the last board member. 

“Arthur,” Uther Pendragon said, “how nice of you to finally grace us with your presence.”

“I’m so sorry, father, a pressing matter came up that couldn’t wait.” The new arrival took the empty seat next to Uther.

All Merlin could do was stare. Arthur. Arthur from Leon’s gang. His Arthur. The Arthur he’d had mind-blowing sex with just last night. The Arthur who’d slept with his head on his chest. Arthur... from Personnel...wasn’t from Personnel at all! He was Arthur Pendragon! Son of Uther Pendragon and Vice President of Pendragon Industries!!! Merlin felt all the blood drain from his face. 

“Mr...,” Uther Pendragon looked down at the papers the secretary had put at every place before the meeting, “...ah, Mr. Emrys, why don’t you just continue.”

Merlin was dizzy. How could he continue now? What did that mean? Was it just another stupid prank Leon’s gang...or was it more Arthur’s gang?...had played him? Why had Arthur lied, telling him he was an employee at Personnel? Why did he let him believe that Morgana was his boss? 

“Mr. Emrys?” Uther Pendragon sounded impatient. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Merlin cleared his throat and clung to the remote of the projector for dear life. He didn’t know how he made it through the rest of the presentation and how he managed to answer the questions some of the board members asked, but he was done 30 minutes later and when he was excused, he grabbed his things and fled the room. 

Oh no, this couldn’t be. Why did he always pick the wrong guys? Arthur Pendragon. Of all the people in the company, he had to get it on with the Vice President! He could never show his face there again.

He ran into his office, ignoring Elena’s questions about how the presentation had gone, grabbed his jacket and bag and left, mumbling something about not feeling well and having to lie down. 

He just had to get out of there. Breathe some fresh air, get his thoughts in order. So he wandered aimlessly through the city, jay-walking red lights, not even hearing the drivers honking horns and yelling obscenities at him.

Merlin sat on a bench in the park for hours, the same thoughts rolling through his mind over and over again. Once again, he thoroughly screwed up. Fucking the Vice President. Just this morning thinking that probably Arthur...Mr. Pendragon Jr....might see more in him than just a little shag on the side. He laughed dryly, startling an old lady who had just passed him. How stupid had he been!

When it got dark and the cold started to seep through his clothes, Merlin got up. He felt like getting drunk again, but that was how all of this had started, right? So he’d probably just go home and bury himself there. 

His whole place smelled like sex. He hung up his jacket and toed his shoes off, only noticing then that he was still in his suit. Loosening the tie, Merlin opened some windows. No need to be constantly reminded of his own naivety. He took off his suit jacket and tossed it carelessly over the back of a chair as someone knocked on his door. 

“Merlin, dear, open up.”

Oh, Mr. Anderson from across the hall. Merlin wasn’t in the mood to listen to her endless stories today. Sometimes he ran some errands for her since she had trouble walking and usually he didn’t mind her stories about her grandchildren, just not now. He opened the door anyway.

“Oh, you look good, dear! That tie suits you!” She started.

But Merlin just stared at the bouquet of roses she held. Once in a while she brought him things like homemade jam or some slices of a freshly baked cake as a little thank you for the stuff he did for her. But roses?

The old lady followed his look. “Oh, yeah, here you go, sweetheart. A young man brought them.” She smiled at Merlin, a twinkle in her eyes. “I think it was the same one who left your apartment early this morning. There’s a message, too.” She fumbled in the pocket of her frock and pulled out a business card that bore the company’s golden dragon logo and read ‘Arthur Pendragon – Vice President’. 

Oh great, now she knew about the disaster, too. No, she didn’t, she couldn’t know what had happened today. He reached for the card and turned it over. On the back it said “Let’s talk, A.”. 

When he noticed Mrs. Anderson still standing there, watching him, he patted her hand. “Here you go, Mrs. Anderson. I’m sure you’ll find a nice vase for those flowers.”

He knew that it wasn’t the polite thing to do, but he closed the door before she could argue. 

Merlin slumped down on his couch and stared at the card. Let’s talk. What was there to talk about? 

Just then, the mobile in his bag buzzed. In the still of his place it was a rather loud and nagging sound. He pulled the phone out and found 10 missed calls, all from a number from a company mobile. A number he didn’t know. And 7 messages from the same number. Arthur. 

Before he could bring himself to ponder checking the texts, he found a message from Leon. A photo of a little wizened thing wrapped in blankets that could be a baby. The text said “Miranda says hi.” followed by some data that could only be the specifics of weight and size at birth. Merlin quickly texted a ‘Congratulations’ back. 

Arthur’s texts all were a variation of the message on the back of the card that lay in front of him on the coffee table and seemed to stare at him. No way would he call him back. There was nothing to talk about. Arthur’s had his fun and that was all there was to it. 

Merlin didn’t go to bed that night, he just took some blankets and curled up on his couch. His bed still smelled of Arthur. Of them. Together. His mind replayed the pictures of last night on an infinite loop. Why was it that he got attached to people so easily? And that after just a few friendly words of someone he already saw and wanted more? And that he interpreted looks all the wrong way? He was just a loser.


	9. Chapter 9

Merlin had no idea which day it was and how many days of work he’d missed. At some point he’d turned his mobile off and only left his couch when he needed to pee. He knew there was only one thing he could do: Hand in his resignation. 

He jerked when he heard a knock at his door. “Who is it?”

“Gwaine,” came the muffled answer. “Open up, man, so I can see you’re not dead.”

Merlin shuffled to the door and peeked through the spyhole before he opened. 

Gwaine gave him a look somewhere between amusement and disgust. “Last time, you smelled better. When was the last time you saw some water?” He held up a paper bag. “Anyway, brought you some things and I have a message for you.”

Oh no, a message. Yeah, right. Let’s talk. Merlin rolled his eyes. “What’s in there?” He frowned at the bag.

“Oh, just some underwear Gwen thought might be yours, the key card you left on your desk when you rushed out, Elena sends your clothes and...no, I think that was it.” Gwaine grinned widely.

“And the message?” Not that Merlin was interested in that, but he was sure Gwaine wouldn’t leave before he’d delivered that, too. 

Gwaine grinned wider. “It’s from Lance.”

“Lance?” What would Lance have to tell him?

“He says hi and sends a friendly reminder that there are surveillance cameras in the elevators.” Gwaine laughed. 

Merlin paled. That meant Lance, who was on duty that night, had seen him having it on with Arthur. And if Lance knew, and Gwaine knew, then all the others knew, too. He closed his eyes and groaned. 

Gwaine still smirked. “Get your shit together and come back. They need you there. Leon needs you for the project and you’re the only person he hasn’t updated on every breath his cute little sunshine takes. A week of moping is enough. And what are you complaining about anyway? That while all the female employees and at least half of the male employees try to get into Arthur’s pants, you were the only one who didn’t know who he was? And managed anyway? You’ve already been dating for weeks, it had to happen sometime.” Shaking his head, he punched Merlin’s shoulder. “Did you have fun? Then you should probably call him back, before our ears will start to bleed from his constant whining.” 

He wandered away, just to turn at the end of the corridor. “And take a shower, man. You stink!”

 

Merlin took the paper bag inside and set it down on the table. Maybe Gwaine was right. When was the last time he showered? He dragged himself into the bathroom and gave the image in the mirror a close look. Might as well have been a thing from the swamp that stared back at him with tired eyes. So he stripped out of his clothes and took a long, hot shower and then decided to shave. He felt a bit better when he put on fresh clothes and was even hungry so he called for a pizza. He let some fresh air into his place and finally changed the sheets. 

When the pizza was delivered, he switched on his TV and changed channels until he found some old cartoons, though he didn’t really pay attention. Merlin was too busy thinking about what Gwaine had said. 

It was just embarrassing, that they’d been caught on CCTV. But those records had to be deleted some time, right? Maybe he could talk Lance into destroying them a bit earlier than scheduled?

And he’d neglected the project they’d been working on so hard. Maybe he should give it another try, just for that. If it didn’t work out in the first few days, he could still hand in that resignation. 

He looked over at the paper bag and got up. His underwear. Oh good Gods! The mere thought of Gwen finding it and knowing that they were his made him blush all over. He tossed them in the hamper, along with his jeans and jumper he’d been wearing the morning of the presentation. His key card was in a neat little envelope. Elena’d written ‘get your sorry ass back here’ on it. 

But there was something else in the bag. On the bottom he found a box. When he carefully opened it, he found an iphone, latest model by the looks of it. And instead of the usual white or black cover, this one was red. Custom product for Pendragon Industries. It was one without the company’s golden logo, the higher management edition. Merlin had heard of them, but dismissed that as a joke since he’d never seen one before.

Why was that in the paper bag with his stuff? It wasn’t his. Merlin would return it first thing in the morning. 

Another knock on the door. “Merlin? Merlin, open up!”

Fuck. Arthur!

“I know you’re in there. Open up so we can talk.”

“Go away!” He wouldn’t talk. He had refused to talk for a whole week, he could keep it up. 

Another thump against the door. “I’m not leaving until you heard me out!”

“What’s your problem?” Merlin yelled at the closed door. “You got what you wanted, now fuck off.”

“Merlin.” Almost pleadingly. “I didn’t get what I wanted. And I won’t leave before I know why.”

Merlin couldn’t resist using the spyhole again. Arthur had his hands on both sides of the door and looked tired. “What did you want?”

“Open up you moron and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me and I might open up.”

Merlin heard a frustrated groan. “You, you idiot. I want you.”

Leaning his forehead against the door, Merlin sighed. If only he could believe that. Gwaine had said they’d been dating for weeks. They’d never been on a date. But...if you counted the coffees and chats and lunches and such...they could be considered as dates, right? He just seemed to have missed the memo about that. 

“Merlin?”

He didn’t answer, just turned and with his back to the door, slid down to sit. He heard some fumbling and jumped a bit when the iphone rang that he was still clutching in his hand. 

“I’m not going to answer. Cut that out!”

Shortly after, the device spit out another melody. A message. 

**Write?**

Merlin stared at the mobile. How on earth could one person be so stubborn? But okay, maybe this was easier. 

**Why?**

**Writing is easier than talking?**

**No. I mean...why?**

There was no reply for a while and Merlin thought Arthur had given up and left, even though he hadn’t heard any movement. Then the phone beeped again. 

**Cause people usually only see the name and what it stands for**

**No need for lying**

Merlin heard a huff behind the door. 

**I did NOT lie!!!**

**Yes u did**

**About what?**

**U said u were from personnel**

**1 of my fields**

**But youre the boss**

**Why does that matter?**

It mattered because...Merlin didn’t have an answer to that and didn’t know what else to type. 

After a long pause, there was another text.

**I’m jsut an employee like every1 else. Happen 2 work 4 my father**

**k**

That was all Merlin came up with. Looking at it this way had never even occurred to him. 

**U still never told me who u were**

There was a chuckle behind the door.

**U never asked**

That was true, too. Until the moment Arthur had walked into the conference room, Merlin never bothered to even ask his last name. He was Arthur, that had been enough. Was he different now that he had a last name that happened to be Pendragon?

Merlin jerked when he heard some noise in the corridor. Had he thought about this too long? Had Arthur left? Somehow he didn’t want him to leave. 

"Merlin, dear. This is ridiculous. You can’t let the young man sit here all night, playing with that horrible phone thing.” Merlin blinked. Mrs. Anderson! “Open up already and let him in. It’s chilly out here, the poor thing will catch a cold!” 

Merlin sighed. As nice as she was, she could also be very persistent. So he got up and opened the door a fraction and peeked outside. “Mrs. Anderson, please. Would you go back to your place? I’ll come over for your grocery list in the morning.” 

Arthur, who’d sat outside his door had gotten up, too. 

“Just look at him, Merlin, dear. Whatever he did, he feels horrible about it and is very sorry. Now let him in and work this out.” 

Despite himself, Merlin chuckled. Leave it to Mrs. Anderson to simplify a complicated situation. 

She stepped closer and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. “And I saw you that morning after he left. You whistled and beamed. He’s good for you. Mark my words, dear, take him back!” With that she turned and shuffled back to her place

The door was still open but Arthur just stood there, looking at Merlin. Merlin had been right, Arthur looked tired and beat, in fact he looked as horrible as Merlin felt. “Hey.” 

"Hey.” A small smile. “We don’t have to talk...just...listen, please?” 

Merlin sighed and stepped away from the door, making his way over to his couch, leaving it up to Arthur to follow. He heard the door close and Arthur’s footsteps neared. 

He put one foot up onto the seat, the foot under the knee of the other leg and wrapped his arms around it and hardly dared to look at Arthur. 

"Okay, listen. It’s just like I texted. People do have expectations as soon as they hear the name. They want me to shower them with expensive gifts and whatnots. When I meet someone new, I never know if they want me or the money and reputation that comes with the name. Do you have any idea how many women claimed to carry my baby?” He laughed bitterly. 

"You like women?” 

"No! That’s what makes it even more ridiculous.” Arthur started to pace. “So when you came into the gym that day, I decided to not reveal who I was. But I didn’t lie to you, Merlin. Personnel is one of the fields I’m responsible for. And even though we hardly ever talked, I felt there was something about you.”

Merlin shot him a look and Arthur sat down on the coffee table in front of him. “I liked you from that very first moment."

"You never said anything.”

“That was because Percy latched on to you the moment he saw you.”

Merlin looked away. “Percy...” He huffed.

“Yeah. All I knew was I had to do something.” 

“You...YOU send him on that business trip! And you threatened him later!” Merlin jumped up. “You’re such a clotpole! How could you!” Now he started pacing. “Just because someone made a move before you got your ass in gear, you send them away!” 

“Merlin! Merlin, listen!” 

“What is there to listen to? You’re nothing but an arrogant prat. Someone played with what you wanted and you meddle in things that aren’t yours to decide!”

“Merlin, Percy is not the nice guy you thought he was. He’s a player. He has little pretty fuck toys in every city Pendragon Industries has a branch office. Since you yelled at him in the gym, he’s been through two on-phases with Gwaine, had an affair with the redhead from the mail room, a one-night stand with Cedric down in IT and has been on business trips to at least 10 cities all around the world. Trust me, he’s not the kind of guy you will have a happily ever after with.” 

Merlin just looked at Arthur. 

“Check that with the others. They’ll confirm it.”

“But why were they all so thrilled that we left together the night of Gwaine’s birthday?” Merlin was confused. 

Arthur laughed. “They thought you worked too hard and needed to have a little bit of fun, that’s all.” 

Merlin took a deep breath. “But still, you never said anything.” 

Arthur shook his head. “How could I? Sexual harassment by the Vice President of Pendragon Industries. That would make for great headlines all over the tabloids.” He gave Merlin a lop-sided smile. 

“And you didn’t fear the headlines that night?” Merlin crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

Again, Arthur shook his head. “I saw the look on your face before. Like you’d finally noticed me. Me, the person behind the name because you didn’t know it. And you were definitely interested. I come from an old family of hunters, we know when to watch silently and when to finally move in.” 

“On your prey.” Merlin sat down again. 

Now Arthur jumped up. “Damn, Merlin. How often do I have to say that I like you? Yeah, I made my move that night. But didn’t you feel that we had something going? That it felt right? Like it was meant to be? If I only wanted that one night, I’d have told you. But it was more, don’t you think? Somewhere to start from, to build upon!” 

Merlin just watched Arthur pace and gesture. Could it be true? That Arthur liked him so much that he went through all of that waiting and watching to find the right moment? That what he’d felt that night, when Arthur had fallen asleep was right? 

"Say something. Please.” 

Merlin drew a shaky breath. “What do you want me to say?” 

Arthur sat down again and reached for Merlin’s hand, holding it in both of his. “That you’ll give me the chance to thoroughly woo you? To show you that I mean it? That I lo...like you?” 

Jerking up at that last part, Merlin just stared at Arthur for a while. Had he almost said that he loved him? He felt something giving way inside him and he leaned in to put a shy kiss on Arthur’s lips. “Okay.” 

Arthur let out a deep breath, smiling widely. “Okay.” He chuckled and got up, pulling Merlin up, too. “I can work with that.” 

Smiling, Merlin followed him to the door. 

“Bring your dancing shoes tomorrow, it’s Friday, we’ll go out after work.” Arthur slid his knuckles down the side of Merlin’s face and stole another kiss before he let go and turned to wander down the corridor. 


End file.
